Premature Evacuation

I was wrong. And, perhaps for one last night, the Dallas Stars were right on.

Stars 3, Red Wings 1 needed its share of luck. Detroit hit a post early and had a goal disallowed via a horrible call. But give Dallas credit. The Stars played last night’s Game 4 at American Airlines Center for pride. And that’s exactly what they got.

Well, that and a Game 5 Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on NBC. Yes, I said Channel 5. See, it was worth it huh?

I figured it would be a funeral. A Red Wings’ victory and a bitter end to a sweet season. It still probably wasn’t the spark of a historic comeback. But if it was Dallas’ last game at AAC, what a way to go out.

Detroit seemingly took a 1-0 lead midway in the second, but referee Dan O’Halloran disallowed Pavel Datsyuk's goal, ruling that Tomas Holmstrom was parked in the goalie crease. Replays showed he clearly wasn’t.

“The referee said his butt was in the blue,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said, “but his butt wasn’t in the blue.”

Where else but the NHL can you read a quote like that?

Dallas took its first lead of the series – hey, it only took 239 minutes and 38 seconds – when Loui Eriksson nudged in Stephane Robidas’ intial shot late in the second period. Playing with the edge for the first time, Dallas got a gorgeous power-play goal from Mike Modano after one-touch assists from Brad Richards and Sergei Zubov, and capped it with the clincher from the relentless Brenden Morrow.

If the Stars can score three or more goals in three more games, they’ll win this series. And if I win Saturday night’s lottery, I won’t be back in here on Monday.